SUMMERVILLE, SC - A patient is back inside the Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health facility on Midland Parkway after attempting to leave without permission Monday morning.

The facility treats girls and boys, ages 7-21 years old. They come to this facility for a number of mental health issues.

The Palmetto Summerville Behavioral Health's Director of Marketing, Richard Christian, confirmed to News 2 that a male patient did try to leave the facility Monday morning. Many of the patients are not allowed to leave but since this is not a correctional facility, they do not classify patients who leave without permission as escapees.

This is not the first time patients have attempted to, or were actually successful at, leaving the facility without permission. Since this is a private facility, it is difficult to get exact numbers of attempts or successful cases of leaving without permission.

Attorney Bill Hearn's office is right across the street from the facility. He says they have witnessed numerous patients attempting to leave over the years. Just this past Thursday night, he says police were out here because of a similar issue at Palmetto Summerville. Hearn said he believes the company should pay for a security guard at their gate to prevent attempts to leave.

Officials say the male patient was under supervision the entire time during the attempt to leave. The patient was taken back inside, and is still being treated at the facility.